Mr. Niall Cody:

I can definitively say there is a level of co-operation between us and the Garda, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, HMRC, and the Police Service of Northern Ireland in tackling fuel laundering and fraud.

This is evidenced by the joint project with HMRC on the fuel marker, which has been a real game changer.

I would hesitate to say that the problem is solved because the people involved in this fraud are not motivated by a desire to launder fuel. They move from fuel laundering into tobacco. There was a recent discovery of a giant operation between ourselves, the PSNI, HMRC and the Garda in which designer fuel was tracked to the port. Designer fuel is where one uses different lubricants to essentially dilute ordinary diesel. The activity is not as profitable as fuel laundering but it shows that the people involved are looking at we have done and for business opportunities.

I would say any Deputy from the northern half of the country will have had representations from people involved in solid fuel about cross-Border solid fuel from North to South - there is a big differential because of the carbon levy on solid fuel - and that also is organised gangs. We have had carousel fraud. Ultimately, with the Border and the differential and now with sterling the way it is, opportunities will be taken. We decided that tobacco smuggling, because of the quantities and how one can smuggle it in different ways, is very difficult to eliminate. Fuel laundering is different. It is big, bulk quantities, it all has to be brought in ships and tankers and moved about. We decided that we would actually defeat fuel laundering. Last week, a fuel laundry was found in sight of but north of the Border. The sludge that has been found this year has had traces of red diesel, which is laundered Northern Ireland fuel. The North uses a red marker and we use a green marker. Fuel laundering is not eliminated on the island but we are very satisfied that we have practically eliminated it on this side of the Border. The only thing is that if it is laundered in the North it can be sold in the South, so we have to keep testing it.

The last time I was here, the Comptroller and Auditor General and myself talked about how they had started to work on the fuel laundering. What he was interested in was doing a random sampling with the analysers to give that view of tax gap analysis. Most of the work we do is risk-based. Where it is risk-based we hope to get results. With a random sampling we were hoping not to get results. It was statistically sound. The sample was picked by our statisticians, who have no involvement in the control. It was very positive and we will continue that exercise on an annual basis. There is no doubt that the people who were involved in organised excise fraud have not stopped doing something. We are very interested in looking at-----